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  Not So Bad After All

  Feb 7, 2025

  When it comes to computers, most people want only three things.  I’ll have a bit of fun here and refer to them as the Three Laws of Computer Usage.  It’s not a new idea but rather a shameful rip-off of Issac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.  If you think about it, these laws determine whether you get your work done without a splitting headache, or stand the computer on a tree stump and blow it to bits with a shotgun.  Here they are. 

  The First Law: The computer must startup reliably.  No extra beeps, boops, wheezes, rattles or drama.  Just push the button, get maybe one beep, the screen lights up and the desktop appears.  Simple.

  The Second Law: The computer must work as it’s supposed to.  No additional errors, hesitations, freezes or dreaded BSODs (Blue Screen of Death).  Once logged in, you should be able to click on a program and have it open and work.  Again, a simple thing.

  The Third Law:  The computer must perform the functions required of it with a reasonable amount of speed.  Obviously, speed is a subjective thing and different for everyone.  If you find yourself becoming annoyed by the delay between a mouse-click and the expected response on the screen, then speed may now be an issue for you.  

  Three laws.  Sounds simple enough.  However, we all know that to satisfy the three laws consistantly, modern computers require more updating and maintenance than a half-century-old classic car.  Then there are the additional programs we installed.  The more programs we install, the greater the maintenance required by them as well.  Often this can be for security reasons, but also because the fine folks at Microsoft decided to “improve” it. 

  But sometimes you get dragged, kicking and screaming, into the next "new" thing because the manufacturer of your "current" thing has moved on to the "next" thing, and no longer provides support or updates for yours.  Well, this is what’s coming down the road if you’re a Microsoft Windows user.

  I have a Windows 10 computer.  Actually, we have five of them (3 PCs, a Laptop, and a tablet) – all running Windows 10.  Since I personally build all our PCs, I do so with a degree of robustness and longevity in mind.  Our PCs are plenty fast for us.  They work fine and don’t run afoul of the three laws I mentioned.  Then along comes Microsoft with the news that they’re no longer supporting Windows 10 after the end of 2025.  Well, doesn’t that just suck.  Now I’ll have to invest in new copies of Windows 11 for our machines.  But wait!  There’s More! 

  Windows 11 now requires either security programming or certain chips on the motherboards or it won’t install – at all.  Bad enough that Windows 11 (the Home version) is now over $130 per copy, but now my perfectly fine Windows 10 PCs are junk after 2025?  It’s not that they won’t work but they will be vulnerable to being hacked without the support that Microsoft will be discontinuing.  

  So, here comes the part where I’m being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the next thing.  If I’m going to carry on in a safe manner, I now have to build all new machines.  I'll recycle and reuse what I can, but the new PCs will have to have the new motherboards with the necessary security built-in so I can install Windows 11.  To be honest, I never thought a software company could bully the global computer motherboard industry so completely.  Sorry Mr. Gates - no Christmas card this year.

  Given that I built our last computers over 10 years ago, the sticker-shock at the cost of new parts was intense.  Enough that I now have to spread out the cost of accumulating them over a period of time and build each new machine when I can.  I also have to reevaluate the number of computers that we actually need.  Certainly the tablet and possibly the laptop are destined for the recycle bin.  Then there’s the issue of what to do with our old Windows 10 PCs.  I have an idea of what to do with them as they get replaced, and will fill you in if I’m successful. 

  So, I just finished building my first Windows 11 computer as a learning experience.  It replaces my Windows 10 machine and is what I would consider a “middle of the road” PC.  I thought my old unit was perfectly fine, except for some strange video lag issues when I was on YouTube.  The new computer starts up very quickly, is much quieter, and absolutely goes like blazes!  

  For me, the transition from Windows 10 to 11 has been the easiest of all the versions.  Being most comfortable with the old Windows 7 style of buttons, menus and controls, I found Windows 11 much easier to grasp right from the start than I did with Windows 10.  No more tiles like Windows 8 through 10 had.  There is a start button and menus are where one might expect.  The rest is fairly intuitive.  With the new interface, my gut feeling is that getting at the most commonly accessed areas takes a few less mouse clicks too.  Oddly enough, the video issues on YouTube are now gone as well.  Maybe it wasn't the Internet service like I originally suspected.  So far, aside from the build cost, I’m actually impressed.  Maybe it's not so bad after all.

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